martedì 1 dicembre 2015

When Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young abruptly split apart at the end of
1970, it seemed as though the world’s first supergroup would become yet
another casualty of drugs, alcohol, egotism, greed, and political
infighting that had become so familiar in the world of rock stars. By
the end of their initial run (1968 through 1970), CSNY was known as much
for their backstage fistfights and legendary episodes of drug abuse, as
they were for two brilliant studio albums (Crosby, Stills & Nash
and Déjà Vu), and the multi-platinum double live LP, 4 Way Street. The
group, which often sang about love and peace, had gotten to the point
where they couldn’t even travel together on tour.

That’s why,
when the much ballyhooed 1974 Reunion Tour was announced, music industry
insiders doubted the group could stay together long enough to even
finish it. But David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young
proved everyone wrong. Not only did they complete the tour, they did it
without a single major fight or argument. And though it would be 14 more
years before all four members toured together again, they managed to
play 36 stadium-sized shows to over one and a half million enthusiastic
fans.

There had been a slew of solo albums in the period between 4
Way Street and this tour, and the group used their individual solo hits
to supplement the already large CSNY repertoire. Opening with a lively
version of "Love The One You're With," (a 1970 solo hit for Stills), and
offering up group arrangements of "Immigration Man" (a hit from the
first Crosby/Nash duo LP); "Military Madness" (from Nash’s first solo
album); "Johnny's Garden" (from Manassas); "Only Love Can Break Your
Heart" (from the classic Young LP, After The Gold Rush), and "Lee
Shore."

Although more than half of the show was not included in
this recording, and there are certainly a great number of mistakes heard
here (despite a solid month of rehearsals prior to the tour, the
group’s vocals are often flat, due probably to problems with the monitor
system used for stadium sound systems), this recording is historic
nonetheless. Since no official group live album was ever released from
this tour, this remains one of the few professional recordings of the
band’s ’74 trek. Although show stoppers like "Pre Road Downs," "Déjà
Vu," and "Long Time Gone," were left off the Biscuit show there is still
plenty of CSNY classics included, among them "Wooden Ships,"
"Helpless," "Almost Cut My Hair," "Teach Your Children" and "Our House"
(with backup vocals from Joni Mitchell, who shared this bill with
CSN&Y and others). This recording ends with Neil Young’s "Hawaiian
Sunrise," which is anti-climatic after the aforementioned hits had been
played. But all in all, it is a testament of how four incredibly
talented solo artists could figure out how to make it all work as a
band.